The Best Case Scenario
Sometimes, we encounter the best case scenarios. Recently, I was flying with small children. Five checked back, security, customs pre-clearance. Wow, headache. We planned for the worst.
Arriving at the airport about two hours before departure, we encountered there no lines at all. Not in check in, not in security, not in customs.
No bags were overweight.
No carry on baggage needed to be rescanned.
None of us beeped in the metal detector.
We didn’t carry any fruits or vegetables or required secondary screening through customs.
The flight arrived close to the expected time.
Our bags arrived quickly and undamaged
We had encountered what probably a majority of us encounter most of the time: the best case scenario.
Sure, there might still be areas to complain about:
- The self-directed baggage drop didn’t quite work and I needed to move one bag to another belt.
- The roller on the x-ray machine didn’t work unless another tray pushed the tray in front of it. With so few people going through, the workers had to push the tray down the rollers once it exited the x-ray machine.
- Our 3-year-old ran away from us and down the jet bridge before the flight was boarding.
Mapping the best case scenario is a good way of understanding the limits for creating an experience. Your customers are answered on the first ring. The check out for your site happens without a hitch. But how good is it actually? What if you could make it a 5 star experience? What if it could be remarkable? What if it were, to borrow AirBnB founder Brian Chesky’s concept, a 6-star experience?
